Okay class; now hold your hand out. No, a little further please. WHAP! (That was me slapping a few of you on the wrist!) What was THAT for, you ask?
We actually received a fair number of emails overnight from people whining in the following ways:
Julie E. from Spartanburg, SC wrote, “I can not believe this weather! We get all the cold air in the world for a month now and little in the way of moisture. NOW we get the moisture and no cold. We want to see some snow. You guys are letting us down!”
Thomas V. from Atlanta, GA wrote, “I’m getting really bummed. Seems like we can’t buy a significant snowfall. How about some powder!”
There were many others, but the gist of many emails that we received overnight was along those lines. What an amazing short term memory some of you guys and gals have! Just three weeks or so ago we would have begged for the kind of weather that we’ve seen during most of the last month!
We’ll Take ONE Moment to Look At Things From the “Glass Half EMPTY” Mode –
Okay, okay, there’s not ONE of us who ski or ride that wouldn’t love to see some serious snow coming down…and yes, this season has been sub par in terms of the amount of natural snowfall thus far. …and YES, the hills further north, into West Virginia and Maryland are getting a bit more than their fair share over the last month. Some resorts like Wisp, Canaan Valley, Timberline and Snowshoe have seen +/- 40” of snow in the last month! There’s not one of us here in Western North Carolina that wouldn’t love to be playing with those kinds of numbers.
At one point about 30 days ago Ski Beech and Sugar Mountain were within 3” of the seasonal snowfall to that point in the season. Since that point Snowshoe and the other resorts based in the Allegheny Mountains have now seen a lot more natural snowfall. Timberline Resort in West Virginia leads the region with 85” of snow thus far. Ski Beech, which averages around 80” of annual snowfall, has seen 32” of snow thus far.
Now Switching BACK to the “Glass Half Full” Mode –
We received a couple of emails from people asking us about this season’s snowfall totals across the region. One noted that we used to keep that kind of data on www.HighCountryWeather.com and they were correct. However, since we cover a lot more territory these days, we began keeping up with the snow totals across the entire Southeast and Mid Atlantic and we document those on the individual resort pages that show in SkiSoutheast.com.
One such emailer asked, “Hey I have a bet with my wife that Ski Beech will end up with pretty close to their normal annual snowfall. Do I have a chance of winning!?” – David Moseley, Raleigh, NC
David, you might be asking for a bit too much! For Ski Beech to match normal snowfall, they’d have to see 48” of snow in these last six weeks of the season. Is that possible? YES. Remember the huge snows of 1993 and 1996 when in March we were dumped on! However, if the meteorologists who write to us are correct, March may be a bit on the mild side. However, what most of them are saying is that March will be more normal in the way of temperatures. Normal for this time of year is a high around 41° and a low near 22°. So we’ll take normal! Also if their long-term forecasts are accurate, we should see some stormy periods. It is during these kinds of winters that we’ve seen some of our more significant snowfall.
For the record, Ski Beech saw 66” of snow last season, and 84” the year prior (2004-2005) and all of this information is available for all of the ski areas that we cover. Simply visit those pages!
In closing this issue, I was speaking with a few people yesterday who were bemoaning the fact that we’ve not seen much snow this season. What they were alluding to was areas AWAY from the higher elevations like Sugar, Beech, etc. I live in Sleepy Hollow and we’ve seen many days of snow, but none more than 3” so as a lover of snow, I too wouldn’t mind seeing some significant snowfalls.
During that conversation I made a bit of a forecast myself. I am going to go on record this morning to say that we will have a snowfall of at least 16” before March 31st.
We have a lot of time left in this season and historically the end of February and March offer some of the best snows.
A FUNNY STORY –
If you’ve been keeping up with our daily reports, you’ve no doubt read some of the fun we’re having with Mike Stinneford of Washington D.C. because of his talk about a “March Mild-up”. Mike is still calling for more normal temperatures for the rest of February (after the coming weekend) and into March. That’s okay, we’ll “accept” normal temps.
We really enjoyed Mike’s latest email to us and had to share it with you guys. He wrote, “As I opened the door to get the Washington Post this morning, I felt like I was being watched. Even though I live on the 22nd floor of a condo, I could’ve sworn I saw a small rodent. As I looked closer, I saw a ghostly image of a groundhog, who muttered “You’re next!” before vanishing.
Breaking into a cold sweat, I opened the metro section of the Post to see if any rabid rodents had been reported. Alas, no such comforting news to be found in the local paper.
With trepidation, I logged onto my computer, and saw the reason for my anxiety. I’m hoping that your readership is off skiing and not on the internet today!
I’m now barricaded in my condo, watching the interstate from my secure balcony, and ducking every time I see a North Carolina license plate!
Mike
P.S. I’m thinking the last of the really cold weather ends early next week, with a return to more normal temps for the rest of February. I’d give you a March forecast, but I’m afraid I won’t be around to see it!
Until Next Time…
THINK COLD AND SNOW!!!
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For more information about the ski resorts of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic visit www.SkiSoutheast.com
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